Press Release, Remarks of the President at the United States Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia

246 2426-B REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT no At Harry Lee Hall 03 U. Si. Marine Corps Base vod anuoy Quantico, Virginia June 15, 1950 1.40 p.m.,e.d.t. General Shepherd, General Cates, distinguished guests, members of the Marine Corps, and the Navy, and the Army, and the Air Force we have unification now: It is a very great pleasure for me to be here today. I notice that General Shepherd was very careful to state that this was not the first time that a President had been to this Post. On occasions, the present occupant of the White House has visited this Post before breakfast, on some of his walks -- not officially, The demonstration which we have witnessed this morning was most interesting and educational, and shows an immense amount of the right sort of training. It also shows that tactics and technique are substantially the same, beginning with Alexander the Great and down to the present day. But the application of tactics and technique is varied by the sort and conditions of the weapons with which we are equipped. TRUALLAD NARA It is a remarkable thing that the maneuvers this morning were exactly according to the best of the military commanders' tactics in all their great battles. It has been a hobby of mine to study maneuvers of the great comman- ders in history. And those maneuvers and tactics which we saw this morning are -- if you will study them -- the great battle maneuvers of the world; and there are some just as interesting as they can be -- and they are substantially on the basis which you saw this morning. The thing that was great about this morning's per- formance is the fact that the men who were acting for our instruction were men who had actually carried out maneuvers such as these in actual warfare; and you could tell that by the way they spoke, and the way they handled the situation. And that I like, I make it a point whenever I can, whenever I see a man with a ribbon and a star of action on his chest, to stop if I have the time and discuss it with him and ask him where he got it, and why he got it. My experience has shown that most of the men who have earned those stars and battle ribbons would much rather not talk about them. Especially are they backward about talking about things of that sort to the President of the United States. It has been my privilege, due to the fact that the greatest war we ever fought ended just as I became President of the United States, to award more Medals of Honor than all the rest of the Presidents put together. And some of the things that I discussed with those young men who received those medals make chills run up and down your spine, and make you proud that you are a member of an organization such as the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Army of the United States. (OVER)